I love the book, “Everyone Communicates: Few Connect” by author John C. Maxwell. In his book he describes what most of us do. We communicate, yet rarely connect.
Powerful thought of the day: Do both – as often as you can.
Four weeks ago I had reached out to a very influential leader in the field of Sport and Athletics here in the UAE via Linkedin. I was trying to set up a time to grab coffee with him to begin to build a relationship with him. We kept moving our coffee time and I wasn’t sure I would really have an opportunity to connect with him.
Then one evening when I was coaching I saw this man standing on the far side of the gym. His gym to be exact. I recognized his face and I knew right away that was him!
I needed to connect.
I immediately asked my players to take a water break, walked hastily toward him and formerly introduced myself with intention. We had a lovely conversation and connected briefly over sport and family before I went back to coaching my athletes.
One week later we were having coffee together sharing laughs, stories and philosophies on sport, family, life and legacy.
We connected.
I once worked for an influential company who’s CEO once told us, “It is surprising how much time I have at the top of the company. No one comes to talk to me because they assume I will be too busy.” In fact, within 50 days of being in the Whitehouse President Trump said he, “Felt Lonely”.
Whether we are sweeping city steps or running a large company worth millions, we all long for the same thing.
We all long to connect.
Do yourself a favour and reach out to someone you have been meaning to reach out to and ask them to grab a cup of coffee with you.
Go from communicating with them to truly connecting with them.
Do not put this off in the “someday” list like the majority of people will do. The best time to truly connect is right now.
You may not naturally be an outgoing person and that is ok. If this is you I challenge you to find a deeper courage to intentionally connect with even just one person. This could even be reconnecting with someone you once knew. See how that goes and then repeat the process with others.
Last thought: Genuinely connect.
Nothing drives someone away faster than a wolf in sheeps’ skin. People’s time is valuable so be genuine about connecting with them. Don’t come in with an agenda other than a goal of building a relationship with them. As soon as people think you have an agenda with them, the connection can easily become lost.
Be you. Be genuine. Be authentic.
No hidden agendas. Just pure and genuine connecting.
—
This post was previously published on Medium and is republished here with permission from the author.
—
◊♦◊
Talk to you soon.
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project and want to join our calls on a regular basis, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—
Photo credit: iStock